The Meaning of Love

I started reading this book, Chicken Soup for the Couple's Soul. I remember these books being popular when I was in elementary/middle school. I have never picked up and read one of these books though. However, I received this book at one of my bridal showers. It sat on my coffee table, hid in a bookshelf, and even stuff into a cabinet many of times. While cleaning out some stuff around the house I found this book pushed in the back of a cabinet hidden by my Yankee candle collection. I took it out decided to take it to work, since it has been low throughput the time is passed by reading, and started to read.
                                                    

At first I didn't know how to take it because the stories in the book are from real life events that were submitted by people. The stories then started to touch my heart and give me a reaction. Love is real and when you find it you need to hold on to it. The book even states "Some loves between two people endure a lifetime. Others are destined to only last for a while; then, the two lovers are separated, either by choice or by fate. But one thing is true: No matter what the outcome of a relationship, when love enters our lives, it never leaves without transforming us at the very depth of our being.", page XVII of Introduction. Wow. This phrase still gives me chills.

Being recently married has shown me a lot about who I am as a person and how capable I am love. Mike however was not the first love I think I ever had. I had a high school boyfriend named Josh that I thought I loved. I probably did when we were together but we split up and we both moved on. The love between Josh and I was not as deep as the love Mike and I have. But as a person I know that the relationship with Josh changed me as a person on an emotional level. After we broke up officially, we did the whole off again on again many times, I started to go after my dreams of college and adventure. Because of him, I strive to better myself as a person and I applied to Virginia Tech after a friend showed me the campus. Before I finished applying for Virginia Tech, I met Mike. I was determined to not have another guy hold me back from my dreams in life.

The morning I made the commute to Virginia Tech for the first time.
August 2009

Mike hit me like a train. I was hesitant about getting into a relationship so we hung out as flirty friends for about a month before we decided to become exclusive. I was very lucky that Mike was so supportive of me during the transition to Virginia Tech. He helped me move into my first dorm and I remember our first goodbye as he was leaving to head back home, this was the first time I ever seen Mike cry. The feeling was scary because we didn't know if our relationship would be able to hold while I was away at college; it felt like we were living two separate lives. We spent 9 whole months together attached at the hip and now we were separated by 5 hours.

If knew me in college then you know Mike and I's relationship was a sickening sweet fairytale because when he visited I was totally smitten all weekend. Any other weekends I had available to go home I would take the opportunity to go visit him. Long distance is never easy! It takes 100% communication in order to work because you are not together. There were times Mike and I were about to call off our relationship but in the end we knew it would destroy us and we were going to work it out.

Well we obviously made it through 2 years of long distance, even a trip to Antarctica after he proposed. We proved the people who thought we weren't going to make it wrong. Mike and I are truly happy and I feel like I have found my soul mate for life. We didn't live together before we got married, only about 2 months, because when I did graduate college I got a job starting the Monday after and they were sending me to New York for training for 2 months. I left for training in January and got back the beginning of March, another stress of long distance plus wedding planning had a relationship stretched to a small string. Now that we are married and living together, I have never been happier in life. Of course, we still have our small arguments about money and other petty stuff but coming home to him is worth it.

The day I married my soul mate.
May 19,2012

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines love as:

1. strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties, attraction based on sexual desire : affection and tenderness felt by lovers : affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests

Love to me is defined as a deep connection between two attracted people that sparks interest and desire to promote a lifetime commitment to each other. (I am not referring to love expressed by parents to children, vice verse, but between two people).

How do you define love? Have you found love like this before? What are some struggles you have had to go through in order to be with each other?